STUDY QUESTIONS FOR ROMEO AND JULIET The line numbers in the following questions may vary according to the publication. Use the question to determine the appropriate line in question.
PROLOGUE
Who speaks the Prologue?
What is the purpose of the Prologue?
In what poetic form is this Prologue?
Review lines 5 and 6. Explain the importance of these two lines.
Why does Shakespeare tell us how the story is going to end?
What themes are established in the Prologue?
ACT 1 SCENE 1
1. How does Shakespeare start the play so that he gains the attention of the “groundlings?”
2. Review lines 61-63. Our first introduction to Benvolio comes when he says these words. What do they reveal about his character?
3. Review lines 67-69. Our first impression of Tybalt occurs in these lines. What do we learn about his character?
4. Review lines 94-95. What is the tone of the Prince’s speech? In these lines he makes a new decree. What is it, and why is it important?
5. When we first see Romeo he shows all the signs of a Petrarchan Lover—someone who is in love with the idea of being in love. How does Romeo act (lines 159-181)?
6. When describing his feelings to Benvolio, Romeo uses Oxymorons—pairs of contradictory words in lines 178-179 and 191-192. Why does he speak in contradictions and paradoxes?
7. We then learn that Romeo is suffering from Unrequited Love—He loves someone who does not love him back. What suggestion does Benvolio make to Romeo to help him get over is unrequited love for Rosaline (lines 225-226)?
ACT 1 SCENE 2
1. In this scene Lord Capulet talks to Paris about marrying his daughter Juliet. What two reasons does he give for not wanting Juliet to marry at this time (lines 8-14)?
2. Review lines 16-19. On what condition will Lord Capulet agree to Juliet’s marriage with Paris?
3. What does this reveal about Lord Capulet’s love for his daughter?
4. From the servant who cannot read we learn that Rosaline, with whom Romeo believes he is in love, will be at the Capulet party. Why does this excite Benvolio? What is his plan (lines 84-89)?
6. Why does Romeo agree to go to the party (lines 102-103)?
7. What coincidence takes place in this scene? Explain what theme is being developed.
ACT 1 SCENE 3
In this scene Lady Capulet is informing Juliet and her nurse of Count Paris’ proposal of marriage.
1. What is the nurse’s relationship with Juliet?
2. How would you describe the nurse’s personality?
3. review lines 60-61. What is the nurse’s one wish for Juliet and why?
4. When Lady Capulet asks Juliet how she feels about being married, what is Juliet’s answer (line 66), and what does it reveal about her character?
5. The nurse and Lady Capulet are both excited and pleased by Paris’ proposal but for different reasons.
The nurse says Paris is “a man of wax” and at the end of the scene encourages Juliet to “Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.” What does the nurse see in Paris, and what does it reveal about her attitude toward love and marriage?
6. Lady Capulet’s lines 81-94 compose a conceit. A conceit is an extended, exaggerated comparison or metaphor between two unlike things—in this case, between Paris and a book that needs to be bound. What does Lady Capulet see in Paris that would make him a good match for Juliet? What is Lady Capulet’s attitude toward love and marriage?
7. Review lines 97-99. Explain Juliet’s answer to her mother when asked if she can love Paris. What does it reveal about her knowledge of being in love? What is her attitude toward love and marriage?
ACT 1 SCENE 4
1. Review lines 106-111. Why does Romeo feel uneasy about going to the party? What dream-like premonition has he had?
2. What decision does Romeo make in lines 112-113, and what is the thematic importance of this decision?
ACT 1 SCENE 5
1. We learn from Romeo’s soliloquy (a speech delivered while the speaker is alone, calculated to inform the audience of what is passing in the character’s mind)that he is struck by love at first sight when he sees Juliet at the party. Paraphrase Rome’s speech (lines 43-53). To what does he compare Juliet?
2. How does this speech about his love for Juliet compare to his speeches about being in love with Rosaline?
3. Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice and tries to start a fight. What two reasons does Lord Capulet give for stopping him (lines 65-69)?
4. Review lines 90-91. What threat does Tybalt make as he agrees to withdraw?
5. In lines 93-106 Romeo and Juliet speak to each other. Their lines form a sonnet. Paraphrase the lines of the sonnet.
6.Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows something the characters do not.What is ironic about Juliet’s line 136?
Act 1 Podcast
In pairs or on your own, create a podcast for Act 1 based on one of the following options:
The Prince's soliloquy warning the citizens not to fight (individual)
The opening banter and insults between the young Montague and Capulet servants.(Pairs)
The nurses soliloquy in scene 3 (individual)
Marcutio's Queen Mab soliloquy in scene 4 (individual)
Romeo and Juliet's first encounter in scene 5 (Pairs)
Introduce your topic, use music and sound effects to create mood and atmosphere. Save as iTunes mp3 and upload to your wiki.
ACT 2 SCENE 2
1. Juliet is on the balcony outside her bedroom but cannot hear the words that Romeo says to himself as he looks at her from the hiding place below. Answer the following questions about lines 2-25:
a. Romeo repeats the light and dark images he introduced when he saw Juliet for the first time. Why does Romeo compare Juliet to the sun?
b. Why does he want the sun to kill the envious moon?
c. Why is the moon envious?
d. Why does he compare Juliet’s eyes to the stars?
e. Why is this comparison to stars another example of foreshadowing?
2. Review lines 33-36. Juliet is still unaware that Romeo is nearby. Paraphrase these lines.
3. Review lines 43-44. Paraphrase lines 38-49. What is Juliet’s attitude toward the feud that has separated the two families?
4. After Juliet asks some pertinent questions (lines 58-84), she realizes that Romeo has overheard her intimate thoughts about him. How does her attitude change in lines 85-105? What is she worried about?
5. Why does Juliet object to Romeo’s swearing on the moon (lines 109-111)?
6. Juliet speaks of her fears in lines 116-119. Explain.
7. Paraphrase lines 142-148.
ACT 2 SCENE 3
1. Friar Laurence is introduced in a lengthy soliloquy in which he philosophies about nature and about mankind. Paraphrase his speech (lines 7-30).
2. What does Romeo tell Friar Laurence, and what does he want from the Friar (lines 43-64)?
3. What is Friar Laurence’s reaction to hearing of Romeo’s new love (lines 65-80)?
4. Review lines 89-92. What reason does Friar Laurence give for agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet?
ACT 2 SCENE 4
1. This scene shows us more of the nurse’s character as she trades quips and puns with Mercutio. What malapropisms (an inappropriateness of speech resulting from the use of one word for another which resembles it) does the nurse use (line 115)?
2. What message does Romeo urge the nurse to give to Juliet (lines 163-166)?
ACT 2 SCENE 5
Juliet is very impatient to hear news from Romeo (lines 1-17). What images does she use in her soliloquy to express this?2.
The nurse knows Juliet is impatient, but she keeps putting her off. Why does the nurse do this?
Why does the Nurse agree to help Juliet marry Romeo?
Create a podcast for Act 2 using Garage Band based on one of the following options:
Introduce your topic, use music and sound effects to create mood and atmosphere. Save as iTunes mp3 and upload to your wiki.
Paraphrase then Podcast the "Balcony Scene" between Romeo and Juliet
Friar Laurence is introduced in a lengthy soliloquy in which he philosophies about nature and about mankind. Paraphrase and Podcast his speech
This scene shows us more of the nurse’s character as she trades quips and puns with Mercutio. Paraphrase and Podcast.
ACT 3 SCENE 1
1. Why do you think Tybalt approaches Mercutio and Benvolio and wants a “word” with one of them (line 37)?
2. Mercutio tries to provoke Tybalt to fight (lines 38-39). Why doesn’t Tybalt want to fight him (line 53)?
3. After Tybalt insults Romeo, Romeo responds with lines 61-64. Explain his lines. What is the “reason” Romeo has for ignoring the insult?
4. Review lines 67-71. Explain the meaning of the lines and the dramatic irony of the situation.
5. Why does Romeo’s answer to Tybalt’s insults upset Mercutio? What does he think Romeo is doing (line 72)?
6. Romeo tries to stop Mercutio and Tybalt from fighting by reasoning with them (lines 82-88). Paraphrase what he says.
7. Even when he is dying, Mercutio continues to joke and to make puns. Explain the pun he makes in lines 94-102.
8. . Explain what Mercutio is saying in the following lines:
“A plague O’ both your houses!
They have made worm’s meat of me.”
9. Paraphrase Romeo's lines 120 to 127?
10. After Mercutio dies, why does Romeo decide to kill Tybalt instead of accepting Mercutio’s death as an unfortunate accident?
11. Review line 134. What does Romeo mean?
12. Review lines 174-175. What reasoning does Lady Capulet use in begging the Prince for vengeance for Tybalt’s death?
13. Review lines 182-184. What is Lord Montagues’ reasoning in his attempt to persuade the Prince not to kill Romeo for killing Tybalt?
14.
What is the Prince’s decree, and what are the reasons he gives for making it?
ACT 3 SCENE 2
1. In lines 37-68 the nurse confuses Juliet as she tells Juliet of the fight. What misconception does Juliet make?
2. Review line 73. When Juliet receives news of Tybalt’s death, what is her first reaction?
3.Review Juliet’s lines 90-92. When the nurse agrees with Juliet, Juliet has a different reaction to Romeo’s killing of Tybalt. Explain.
ACT 3 SCENE 3
1.Review line 12. What is Romeo’s reaction when he learns that he has been banished?
2. From the beginning of the play, Romeo acts impulsively. In what way is he still impulsive in this scene (lines 102-108)?
3. Friar Laurence tells Romeo to count his blessings. What are they (line 135-140)?
4. Explain Friar Laurence’s plan (lines 146-154).
ACT 3 SCENE 5
Questions begin with Lady Capulet’s entrance, line 68.
1. Lady Capulet misunderstands Juliet’s sadness, and Juliet does not want her to know what has happened between Romeo and Juliet. What does Juliet say about Tybalt and Romeo to keep the truth from her mother (lines 67-102)?
2. What is Juliet’s response when she is told the news that she is to marry Paris (lines 116-123)? How has she changed since Act 1?
3. What is her mother’s reaction to Juliet’s response (line 124 and lines 139-140)?
4. Review lines 190-194. What is Lord Capulet’s response to Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris?
5. What does the Nurse advise Juliet to do (lines 212-225)? What is her reasoning?
6. After the Nurse leaves and Juliet is alone, what does Juliet decide to do (lines 240-243)?
Act 3 Reflection
Provide at least 2 examples and quotes from Act 3 that illustrate each of the following themes:
The brutal emotion of love.
Behaviour controlled by the code of masculine honour
The danger of acting on impulse
Destiny and Fate
Place your responses on your wiki and complete the following form:
1. Why is Friar Lawrence reluctant to marry Paris to Juliet?
2. How does Paris explain the sudden haste of the marriage plans?
3. What is ironic about the conversation between Juliet and Paris?
4. If Friar Lawrence cannot help her, what does Juliet threaten to do?
5. Why does Friar Lawrence think that Juliet will accept his plan?
6. Describe the friar’s plan for Juliet.
scene ii:
1. What does Juliet say that makes her father happy?
2. How does Capulet change the wedding plans? What implications does this have?
scene iii:
1. How does Juliet show her maturity and independence in this scene?
2. If the potion does not work, what will Juliet do?
3. What are some of the fears Juliet has about the potion?
scene iv:
1. What is happening in this brief scene?
scene v:
1. Describe the imagery Shakespeare uses in describing Juliet’s “death.”
2. What does friar Lawrence say to comfort the Capulet family?
3. What event are the Capulets preparing for now?
ACT 5 SCENE 1
1. What premonition does Romeo have at the beginning of this scene (lines 1-11)?
2. What news does Balthasar bring? How does this disrupt the Friar’s plan?
3. Review line 24. Paraphrase. Why is this a brazen thing to say?
4. What does Romeo decide to do after he hears Balthasar’s story (lines 34-57)?
ACT 5 SCENE 2
1. What story does Friar John tell Friar Laurence as explanation as to why he could not deliver the letter to Romeo?
ACT 5 SCENE 3
1. Review lines 91-96. What does Romeo notice about Juliet? Explain the dramatic irony.
2. Review line 167. What does Juliet realize about the situation?
The line numbers in the following questions may vary according to the publication. Use the question to determine the appropriate line in question.
PROLOGUE
ACT 1 SCENE 1
1. How does Shakespeare start the play so that he gains the attention of the “groundlings?”2. Review lines 61-63. Our first introduction to Benvolio comes when he says these words. What do they reveal about his character?
3. Review lines 67-69. Our first impression of Tybalt occurs in these lines. What do we learn about his character?
4. Review lines 94-95. What is the tone of the Prince’s speech? In these lines he makes a new decree. What is it, and why is it important?
5. When we first see Romeo he shows all the signs of a Petrarchan Lover—someone who is in love with the idea of being in love. How does Romeo act (lines 159-181)?
6. When describing his feelings to Benvolio, Romeo uses Oxymorons—pairs of contradictory words in lines 178-179 and 191-192. Why does he speak in contradictions and paradoxes?
7. We then learn that Romeo is suffering from Unrequited Love—He loves someone who does not love him back. What suggestion does Benvolio make to Romeo to help him get over is unrequited love for Rosaline (lines 225-226)?
ACT 1 SCENE 2
1. In this scene Lord Capulet talks to Paris about marrying his daughter Juliet. What two reasons does he give for not wanting Juliet to marry at this time (lines 8-14)?
2. Review lines 16-19. On what condition will Lord Capulet agree to Juliet’s marriage with Paris?
3. What does this reveal about Lord Capulet’s love for his daughter?
4. From the servant who cannot read we learn that Rosaline, with whom Romeo believes he is in love, will be at the Capulet party. Why does this excite Benvolio? What is his plan (lines 84-89)?
5. Review lines 86-89. Explain Benvolio’s analogy:
6. Why does Romeo agree to go to the party (lines 102-103)?
7. What coincidence takes place in this scene? Explain what theme is being developed.
ACT 1 SCENE 3
In this scene Lady Capulet is informing Juliet and her nurse of Count Paris’ proposal of marriage.1. What is the nurse’s relationship with Juliet?
2. How would you describe the nurse’s personality?
3. review lines 60-61. What is the nurse’s one wish for Juliet and why?
4. When Lady Capulet asks Juliet how she feels about being married, what is Juliet’s answer (line 66), and what does it reveal about her character?
5. The nurse and Lady Capulet are both excited and pleased by Paris’ proposal but for different reasons.
The nurse says Paris is “a man of wax” and at the end of the scene encourages Juliet to “Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.” What does the nurse see in Paris, and what does it reveal about her attitude toward love and marriage?
6. Lady Capulet’s lines 81-94 compose a conceit. A conceit is an extended, exaggerated comparison or metaphor between two unlike things—in this case, between Paris and a book that needs to be bound. What does Lady Capulet see in Paris that would make him a good match for Juliet? What is Lady Capulet’s attitude toward love and marriage?
7. Review lines 97-99. Explain Juliet’s answer to her mother when asked if she can love Paris. What does it reveal about her knowledge of being in love? What is her attitude toward love and marriage?
ACT 1 SCENE 4
1. Review lines 106-111. Why does Romeo feel uneasy about going to the party? What dream-like premonition has he had?
2. What decision does Romeo make in lines 112-113, and what is the thematic importance of this decision?
ACT 1 SCENE 5
1. We learn from Romeo’s soliloquy (a speech delivered while the speaker is alone, calculated to inform the audience of what is passing in the character’s mind) that he is struck by love at first sight when he sees Juliet at the party. Paraphrase Rome’s speech (lines 43-53). To what does he compare Juliet?
2. How does this speech about his love for Juliet compare to his speeches about being in love with Rosaline?
3. Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice and tries to start a fight. What two reasons does Lord Capulet give for stopping him (lines 65-69)?
4. Review lines 90-91. What threat does Tybalt make as he agrees to withdraw?
5. In lines 93-106 Romeo and Juliet speak to each other. Their lines form a sonnet. Paraphrase the lines of the sonnet.
6. Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows something the characters do not. What is ironic about Juliet’s line 136?
Act 1 Podcast
In pairs or on your own, create a podcast for Act 1 based on one of the following options:
Introduce your topic, use music and sound effects to create mood and atmosphere. Save as iTunes mp3 and upload to your wiki.
ACT 2 SCENE 2
1. Juliet is on the balcony outside her bedroom but cannot hear the words that Romeo says to himself as he looks at her from the hiding place below. Answer the following questions about lines 2-25:
a. Romeo repeats the light and dark images he introduced when he saw Juliet for the first time. Why does Romeo compare Juliet to the sun?
b. Why does he want the sun to kill the envious moon?
c. Why is the moon envious?
d. Why does he compare Juliet’s eyes to the stars?
e. Why is this comparison to stars another example of foreshadowing?
2. Review lines 33-36. Juliet is still unaware that Romeo is nearby. Paraphrase these lines.
3. Review lines 43-44. Paraphrase lines 38-49. What is Juliet’s attitude toward the feud that has separated the two families?
4. After Juliet asks some pertinent questions (lines 58-84), she realizes that Romeo has overheard her intimate thoughts about him. How does her attitude change in lines 85-105? What is she worried about?
5. Why does Juliet object to Romeo’s swearing on the moon (lines 109-111)?
6. Juliet speaks of her fears in lines 116-119. Explain.
7. Paraphrase lines 142-148.
ACT 2 SCENE 3
1. Friar Laurence is introduced in a lengthy soliloquy in which he philosophies about nature and about mankind. Paraphrase his speech (lines 7-30).
2. What does Romeo tell Friar Laurence, and what does he want from the Friar (lines 43-64)?
3. What is Friar Laurence’s reaction to hearing of Romeo’s new love (lines 65-80)?
4. Review lines 89-92. What reason does Friar Laurence give for agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet?
ACT 2 SCENE 4
1. This scene shows us more of the nurse’s character as she trades quips and puns with Mercutio. What malapropisms (an inappropriateness of speech resulting from the use of one word for another which resembles it) does the nurse use (line 115)?
2. What message does Romeo urge the nurse to give to Juliet (lines 163-166)?
ACT 2 SCENE 5
Create a podcast for Act 2 using Garage Band based on one of the following options:
Introduce your topic, use music and sound effects to create mood and atmosphere. Save as iTunes mp3 and upload to your wiki.
ACT 3 SCENE 1
1. Why do you think Tybalt approaches Mercutio and Benvolio and wants a “word” with one of them (line 37)?
2. Mercutio tries to provoke Tybalt to fight (lines 38-39). Why doesn’t Tybalt want to fight him (line 53)?
3. After Tybalt insults Romeo, Romeo responds with lines 61-64. Explain his lines. What is the “reason” Romeo has for ignoring the insult?
4. Review lines 67-71. Explain the meaning of the lines and the dramatic irony of the situation.
5. Why does Romeo’s answer to Tybalt’s insults upset Mercutio? What does he think Romeo is doing (line 72)?
6. Romeo tries to stop Mercutio and Tybalt from fighting by reasoning with them (lines 82-88). Paraphrase what he says.
7. Even when he is dying, Mercutio continues to joke and to make puns. Explain the pun he makes in lines 94-102.
8. . Explain what Mercutio is saying in the following lines:
“A plague O’ both your houses!
They have made worm’s meat of me.”
9. Paraphrase Romeo's lines 120 to 127?
10. After Mercutio dies, why does Romeo decide to kill Tybalt instead of accepting Mercutio’s death as an unfortunate accident?
11. Review line 134. What does Romeo mean?
12. Review lines 174-175. What reasoning does Lady Capulet use in begging the Prince for vengeance for Tybalt’s death?
13. Review lines 182-184. What is Lord Montagues’ reasoning in his attempt to persuade the Prince not to kill Romeo for killing Tybalt?
14.
What is the Prince’s decree, and what are the reasons he gives for making it?
ACT 3 SCENE 2
1. In lines 37-68 the nurse confuses Juliet as she tells Juliet of the fight. What misconception does Juliet make?
2. Review line 73. When Juliet receives news of Tybalt’s death, what is her first reaction?
3.Review Juliet’s lines 90-92. When the nurse agrees with Juliet, Juliet has a different reaction to Romeo’s killing of Tybalt. Explain.
ACT 3 SCENE 3
1.Review line 12. What is Romeo’s reaction when he learns that he has been banished?
2. From the beginning of the play, Romeo acts impulsively. In what way is he still impulsive in this scene (lines 102-108)?
3. Friar Laurence tells Romeo to count his blessings. What are they (line 135-140)?
4. Explain Friar Laurence’s plan (lines 146-154).
ACT 3 SCENE 5
Questions begin with Lady Capulet’s entrance, line 68.1. Lady Capulet misunderstands Juliet’s sadness, and Juliet does not want her to know what has happened between Romeo and Juliet. What does Juliet say about Tybalt and Romeo to keep the truth from her mother (lines 67-102)?
2. What is Juliet’s response when she is told the news that she is to marry Paris (lines 116-123)? How has she changed since Act 1?
3. What is her mother’s reaction to Juliet’s response (line 124 and lines 139-140)?
4. Review lines 190-194. What is Lord Capulet’s response to Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris?
5. What does the Nurse advise Juliet to do (lines 212-225)? What is her reasoning?
6. After the Nurse leaves and Juliet is alone, what does Juliet decide to do (lines 240-243)?
Act 3 Reflection
Provide at least 2 examples and quotes from Act 3 that illustrate each of the following themes:
- The brutal emotion of love.
- Behaviour controlled by the code of masculine honour
- The danger of acting on impulse
- Destiny and Fate
Place your responses on your wiki and complete the following form:>>>Student Responses<<<
ACT IV SCENE 1
1. Why is Friar Lawrence reluctant to marry Paris to Juliet?
2. How does Paris explain the sudden haste of the marriage plans?
3. What is ironic about the conversation between Juliet and Paris?
4. If Friar Lawrence cannot help her, what does Juliet threaten to do?
5. Why does Friar Lawrence think that Juliet will accept his plan?
6. Describe the friar’s plan for Juliet.
scene ii:
1. What does Juliet say that makes her father happy?2. How does Capulet change the wedding plans? What implications does this have?
scene iii:
1. How does Juliet show her maturity and independence in this scene?2. If the potion does not work, what will Juliet do?
3. What are some of the fears Juliet has about the potion?
scene iv:
1. What is happening in this brief scene?scene v:
1. Describe the imagery Shakespeare uses in describing Juliet’s “death.”2. What does friar Lawrence say to comfort the Capulet family?
3. What event are the Capulets preparing for now?
ACT 5 SCENE 1
1. What premonition does Romeo have at the beginning of this scene (lines 1-11)?
2. What news does Balthasar bring? How does this disrupt the Friar’s plan?
3. Review line 24. Paraphrase. Why is this a brazen thing to say?
4. What does Romeo decide to do after he hears Balthasar’s story (lines 34-57)?
ACT 5 SCENE 2
1. What story does Friar John tell Friar Laurence as explanation as to why he could not deliver the letter to Romeo?
ACT 5 SCENE 3
1. Review lines 91-96. What does Romeo notice about Juliet? Explain the dramatic irony.
2. Review line 167. What does Juliet realize about the situation?
3. Review lines 169-170. Explain the lines.